After eating dinner, Pan An and Shu Xian continued to have their conversation as they were walking back to the parking lot.
However, soon after, Shu Xian felt her phone vibrating against her, making her get it from her pocket to see who was calling her at around 8:30 in the evening.
"Oh!" Shu Xian blinked her eyes a few times, looking at Pan An. "It's your mother!"
"Oh?" Pan An grinned, actually excited that he predicted that his mother would call her. "Answer her call, then."
Shu Xian shook her head as she understood why Pan An was smiling. It meant that his plans were a success, making her accept the call and then put her phone on loudspeaker so Pan An could hear.
"Hello, Ma'am Cai Li?" Shu Xian greeted, her cheery voice already sounding on her phone.
"Oh, Shu Xian! I heard from the manager of the mall that you were doing grocery shopping with Pan An and that you ate dinner with him! I couldn't help but call, I'm sorry! It's just that it has been this long since he was having fun with a girl, and I'm happy that he's feeling great!"
Hearing this, Pan An couldn't help but roll his eyes, Shu Xian, arching a brow at Pan An with a smile on her face.
"I'm happy to know that you're glad for Pan An, Ma'am Cai Li. I'll continue to watch over him."
"Oh, please do, sweetheart! Also, don't forget about the dinner that you're going to have with me, alright? Our driver will pick you up!"
"Of course," Shu Xian said, nodding at the same time even though Cai Li won't see her. "I won't forget it."
"Good!" Cai Li exclaimed, "Now, I know you're with my son. Can I speak to him over the phone, please?"
"Sure."
With that, Shu Xian gave him the phone, Pan An, letting out a small sigh as his lips were in a tight line for a moment before he spoke.
"Mother."
"Dearest!"
Cai Li was obviously happy, letting out a chuckle at the same time.
"You should go out more often with dear Shu Xian! It would help you relax since you're stressed with work in the university!"
"Yes, mother," Pan An said, a small smile on his face. "I'll take that as a good suggestion. Shu Xian and I will go grocery shopping twice a month, also having dinner after."
"Good! I don't understand why you must do these things," she said and commented, "I mean, we have people we could order around to do those things for you so you could go out of the country with Shu Xian and let her see the world, and then—"
"Mother," Pan An interrupted, Shu Xian blushing with the suggestions she was hearing from Cai Li. "Being a professor doesn't give me the luxury of time to go traveling. I'd rather stay here with her and do simple things. It's the company that counts. Shu Xian's pretty good company."
Hearing the latter part, however, made Shu Xian blush more, her heart racing in her chest! With Cai Li giggling as if she was a teenager for her son, she then spoke, snapping Shu Xian out of her thoughts.
"Oh, alright… but do know that I'm going to borrow her from time to time, yeah?"
Pan An playfully rolled his eyes, letting out a small chuckle at the same time.
"Of course. Rest well, mother. Good night."
"Good night, dearie! Bless me with grandchildren—"
"Good night, mother!" Pan An immediately interrupted, making Shu Xian laugh at how playful both of them are. "We need to go, too."
"Oh, alright," Cai Li gave up, "Bye, Shu Xian! See you tomorrow!"
"Bye, Ma'am Cai Li! Rest well!"
With that, the call ended, making Pan An sigh as he handed Shu Xian's phone over back at her, making a comment as well.
"I just can't believe it that she's this way," he mumbled, making Shu Xian furrow her brows as she kept her phone in her pocket.
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"I don't know if being nice is something that she is doing on purpose before she shows you her real colors, or maybe I'm overthinking—my mom actually genuine."
Shu Xian cocked her head to the side, "You think your mother is faking her kindness towards me?"
"As what she usually does with those women who met me—especially to the only one whom I dated before—"
Suddenly, Pan An stopped mid-sentence the moment he saw a UV pass by, a red-haired girl laughing on the passenger seat seen as if it were in slow motion, making Pan An's heart beat fast.
Those crescent-moon eyes, those thin lips, that mole on top of her upper lip and that familiar red-dyed hair that is curly…
Could it be?
'Ruo Xi?'
However, the UV already passed by them, making Shu Xian snap Pan An away from his thoughts as she shook him, getting his attention.
"Pan An? What's wrong?"
Pan An didn't say a word. With his eyebrows furrowed as his hands at the side balled into tight fists, he got his phone, already dialing their family secretary.
"Check out the patrons that came in the mall today and inform me of the names. I need the files ASAP."
Without him even bothering to get a reply the moment the call connected, he ended it, Shu Xian starting to worry as she saw Pan An serious and angry at the same time.
"Pan An?" Shu Xian held his hand, now the professor looking at her. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Pan An blankly answered, his heart in his chest, racing and aching at the same time. "I'm alright…"
***
"Ma'am Cai Li."
Their private secretary bowed before the Madame who was having her night wine at the garden, informing her of what had just happened.
"Mr. Pan An called me and requested for the list of patrons at the mall."
"Tsk!"
Cai Li's eyebrow twitched, clicking her tongue at the same time as she elegantly stood up from her lounge, putting her wine down as she crossed her arms in front of her chest to look at their secretary.
"He has seen her sooner than I thought and wanted to confirm it immediately. How she even came to our mall is a question," she mumbled, enough for the secretary to hear as he raised his body to face the Madame.
"What should I do, Ma'am Cai Li?"
Cai Li waved her hand as if wanting to end their conversation quickly before her anger gets the best of her.
"Give him what he wants. But filter Ruo Xi's name. Don't make it obvious that we're on to something."
"Right away, Ma'am Cai Li."
With the secretary now walking away from the garden, Cai Li turned her body to look at the maze of their house, biting her bottom lip as her fingers dug in her own flesh, frustrated.
'Pan An must not know that she's here… he must never know that that woman is here…'